It Lives Under My Bed

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It Lives Under My Bed - book excerpt

Chapter 1

MOVING IS ROUGH

Being fourteen and being forced to move away from the only friends he had ever known didn’t help all the things Bryan was feeling. The only thing that kept his mind off things was the new house. It was a two-story, what some would call a plantation house. He didn’t understand what that meant, but he was sure it was something cool.

When they settled in, Bryan wanted to explore every inch of the home.

“Bryan! You need to pick a room and start unpacking!” his mom shouted.

“I know, Mom!” he shouted back.

“Dinner’s at six; don’t be late or the food will get cold!”

“Again, I know!” Bryan wasn’t hungry and didn’t really care if he ate or not. He had spent the last couple of hours trying to pick out a room. And after careful consideration he found the room that suited him most.

To him it was perfect. The color of the room was hunter green. It was very spacious and had two overly large windows. He spent the rest of the night getting his room ready, putting the bed together and unpacking boxes until his mother made him get ready for bed.

The young man did his normal routine. He took his shower, brushed his teeth, got his clothes ready for the next day. And even though he was angry, he still told both his parents and his little sister goodnight.

Bryan then changed into his PJs and jumped into bed. He tried his best to fall asleep, but all he could think of was his friends back home that he had left behind. They were all he had ever known. And now he was forced to start all over.

He understood why they’d had to move. His dad had been offered a great job just thirty minutes away. And if he was going to better himself and his family, he couldn’t say no.

It still didn’t make it any easier on Bryan, and at times he didn’t want to accept the fact. Anger had still found its way back to him when he thought of everything he was forced to give up. Though no matter how he felt, it didn’t change the outcome.

Bryan had to learn to accept things the way they were and just move on from there. Perhaps this little town wouldn’t be so bad if he gave it a chance.

Sleep was starting to take over his thoughts, and his mind began to calm.

As the night went on and midnight approached, something strange began to happen. Bryan woke up to the sound of voices filling his room. They were very faint, but he could tell someone or something was in his room.

“Who’s there?” Bryan nervously whispered. The whispers had stopped, and he chalked it up to nerves. When he tried to fall back to sleep, the whispers started again. Yet this time it felt like his bed was being moved or shaken.

Bryan jumped out of bed wide awake. This time he was sure it wasn’t a bad dream or nerves. He rushed over and flipped the light switch. Bryan searched high and low thinking his sister was maybe hiding in his room.

There was still one place in the room that he had yet to search, and that was underneath his bed. He was a little scared but managed to suck it up and inch closer towards the bed. Then he suddenly stopped in his tracks after the bed shook slightly.

Bryan cleared his throat. “Who’s there?” he asked again. “If that’s you, Matty, it’s not funny.” He stayed about a foot away and found the courage to kneel down. He took a quick glance under the bed, but nothing was there.

He stood back up and scratched his head in confusion. What in the world was going on? He just couldn’t figure it out. Perhaps he would just go back to bed and tell his parents what had happened in the morning.

The rest of the night went by fairly quietly; the only thing he heard was his dad snoring. And his bed didn’t move again, which allowed the young man to fall asleep for the second time.

Morning came quicker than he hoped it would. Rays of light shone through his window, beating down on his face and waking him up. Bryan pulled the covers over his head, refusing to get out of bed.

Moments later he could hear his mom marching up the steps muttering words of disapproval under her breath. She stopped at his door and started knocking loud and hard.

“Get out of bed this instance, Bryan Sanders,” she said angrily. “Breakfast is downstairs, and you know the rules of the house. We eat together as a family before everyone’s day starts.”

“Yes, Mother,” he replied. His mom went back downstairs the same way she came up—angry at him. Bryan rose and stretched his arms into the air, letting out a long yawn before getting out of bed.

He threw on his clothes that he had picked out for the day. He brushed his teeth then went running downstairs to join his family at the table. “Look who finally decided to join us,” his dad grunted.

“Sorry, Dad,” Bryan responded.

“You don’t look so good either. Long night?”